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Rolebama
I can relate to that.
Before I brought the Jag, I went into various dealerships, and in particular my local Vauxhall dealer as I was considering the Insignia.
I was in a polo shirt and jeans and this rather huffy salesman asked if he could help. I explained that I was looking at a new car and was considering the Insignia. "New or second-hand?" he asked. New I replied (it was new to the market so no used examples were available.) Anyway he looked me up and down as said sarcastically "There is one over there" and pointed me in the direction of a show model on a plinth outside. You could see the disdain on his face.
Suffice to say, I brought the Jag instead who (and this is on the same day) within 5 minutes of me walking into the showroom had a demonstrator available and invited me to take it away for a few hours and see what I thought. No judgment based on clothing or anything else, just very professional and friendly throughout. They got my business as you know.
A month or so later, my daughter's then boyfriend was looking for a new (to him) car and asked if I could help him find one as he was particularly looking at a Vauxhall. Guess where we ended up? Guess who got the same salesman as I had met earlier? Yep, you got it.
Again the disdain was there for all to see. So after he had patronised my daughter's boyfriend for a few minutes I perked up and said "I forgot, you are a salesman who judges a book by its cover aren't you?" He looked at me puzzled and asked me what I meant.
So I explained my previous visit and his attitude, but then thanked him for doing me a favour as I pointed out my shiny new Jag parked outside which I brought on the back of my visit to him. His face was a picture, especially as I said to the Boyfriend, OK, lets go, he is not interested in selling cars to the likes of us. That was very satisfying.
But I can go one better.
A very good friend of mine is a captain of the corporate jet used by ne of the major F1 race teams and he makes very serious money. He is also a biker like me and was looking at buying a new car (he changed his cars and bikes like the rest of us change our underpants.
Anyway, we were out on the bikes when we called into a high end salesroom (I think it was something like a Porsche dealership) as he was looking at one of the top end models.
The attitude of the salesman made me laugh as he looked at us in leathers. His first comment to my buddy was "I don't think someone like you can afford one of our cars". John just looked at him and "Said thank you for that advice" and we walked out.
Next door was a Bentley dealer. We walked in and within 30 minutes he had brought and paid for a brand new top of the range Bentley, and he paid for it on his credit card 🙂
As we were about to depart, John popped his head through the door of the Porsche dealer and said "Thanks for the favour you did me, I think I will me much happier in the Bentley I have just brought"
I wish I had a camera with me at the time to capture the look on the salesman's face.
Snobbery in our dealership's is without doubt an issue for many, but the one I might have expected it in (Jaguar) just never materialised.
